Picture this: You open several tabs in your Google Chrome browser, the pages take their time loading, but out of nowhere one of them starts blaring music and you scramble to find the one to turn the music off or close the tab altogether.
Sounds like a familiar, annoying situation?
Well, the good news is Google has confirmed that it will add an ad blocker to its Chrome browser (both the desktop and mobile versions) next year to filter intrusive ads.
This was confirmed by Google ads and commerce senior vice president (SVP) Sridhar Ramaswamy, who wrote in a blog post, “It’s far too common that people encounter annoying, intrusive ads on the Web – like the kind that blare music unexpectedly, or force you to wait 10 seconds before you can see the content on the page. These frustrating experiences can lead some people to block all ads – taking a big toll on the content creators, journalists, web developers and videographers who depend on ads to fund their content creation. We believe online ads should be better.”
Currently, the Chrome browser has a trusty Adblock Plus extension that can be used to block out ads. But Google’s goal for its browser isn’t to filter out all advertising.
Instead, the software will remove advertising formats that have been deemed unacceptable by trade group Coalition for Better Ads. The formats include include auto-playing video ads with sound, pop-up ads, and ads that take over more than 30% of a mobile screen.
What does this mean for content publishers? They will have to adapt less intrusive ads. On top of that, Google will also offer publishers another way to monetise their content i.e. publishers can show a customised message to visitors using an ad blocker, inviting them to either enable ads on their site, or pay for a pass that removes all ads on that site through the new Google Contributor.
Yay or nay, guys? Let us know your thoughts on Google’s plans in the comments below!
Source: Google blog / Featured image: The Next Web.
